“Emergency Dove Call Center Protocol” – Uljana Wolf

“Emergency Dove Call Center Protocol” – Uljana Wolf

ardon my englisjh sir. how may i help you.
i have no type to type this. meant to write time
wrote trip. did you know the chinese ward for
pigeon is business sir. did you want to sleep with
paintin your hear. i eerie in your city they spray
the messenger. dead not for real deal, only for
art deal. really rad. did you want to take this bird
to bed sir. i also hurt the german weird for business
is shit. did you want to wear your head in your
tales sir. all writing dropping from roof, kleckse auf
headse. meant to write headset wrote little bird
sir. all walking around with white on hat, a train
of sorts, quills. did you want to paint this on a
bill. the trip word for pigeon is messenger. meant
to write mess angel wrote all dropping, a business
word. the sir whirr for messenger is i’m sorry i have
no hand to write this. meant to write road trip.
wrote no monkey no takt. only two thumbs, the well-
trained type. did you want to tread this sir. tape this.
the philosopher word for pigeon is dove. on this topic
i have the following verses: feathers on my eyelids /
i know a pair of real people / fastened to their wings
are my eyelids / they are read.

— Uljana Wolf. First published in Julian Charrière / Julius von Bismarck / Eric Ellingsen: SOME PIGEONS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS (Lars Mueller, 2015). She has described this particular piece as a “translingual (corrupt-lingual) poem”, based on her work in translation-as-composition.

Uljana Wolf is a German poet, born in Berlin in 1979. Her books include Kochanie ich habe Brot gekauft (2005), Falsche Freunde (2009), and Meine schönste Lengevitch (2013). She lives and works between Berlin and New York.